Otis Grisham was a former inmate of Stryker's Island and a criminal who worked for Lex Luthor until his death.
Biography[]
Stryker's Island[]
Otis was once a top level criminal in Stryker's Island Prison, who had the respect of all the other prisoners, and was feared by everyone. One day, Lex Luthor was arrested and sent to the prison. It was there that Lex approached Otis while he was giving another inmate a haircut. Lex tried to buy Otis' razor from him, and said if he cooperated, he would be allowed to keep his cell. Otis didn't take Lex seriously, and with the aid of his fellow prisoners, proceeded to beat Lex up.
A couple nights later, Lex ordered the prison warden to send his officers to forcefully remove Otis and the others from their cells while they were sleeping, and beat them up twice as hard as they had beaten Lex up. After that, Lex took charge of the prison, and Otis slowly worked his way up the ladder, until he became Lex's top henchman.[1]
Lex Luthor's team[]
After Lex was released, Otis picked him up from the Kent farm, but not before killing Dr. Aleister Hook on Lex's orders, giving Dr. Hook's bloody glasses to Lex as proof.
Afterwards, Lex and Otis went to the remains of Bruno Mannheim's destroyed laboratory, where they found Bizarro Kal-El. Kal then attacked Otis[1] and bit his ear off. Lex managed to save Otis by shooting Kal with an X-Kryptonite gun; temporarily killing him. Otis then proceeded to help Lex (along with Cheryl Kimble and Hacksaw Kronick) with repeatedly killing Kal in order to turn him into an unstoppable monster to kill Superman.[2]
At Lex's hideout, Cheryl tries to kill Sam at Lex's orders, but he manages to break free and subdue her, before being knocked out by Otis again. In a second attempt, Otis and Cheryl bury Sam alive, but he was then rescued by Lois Lane and Superboy, who defeats Otis using his powers. Lex later advises Otis and Cheryl to lay low for a while.[3]
Last mission[]
When Mayor Lana Lang confronted Lex, he sent Otis to assassinate her in her house on Smallville. Otis managed to get past the security system (with Milton's help) and tried to strangle her, but her daughter Sarah managed to knock him out with a bat and he was arrested by the DOD.[4] Fearing that Otis would reveal his secrets, Lex had him killed in prison. Otis' body was eventually found hanging, simulating a suicide.[5]
Abilities[]
- Peak human durability: Otis was heavily muscled or had immense bone density. Otis survived a powerful blow from Superboy which sent him catapulted into a metal building, knocking him out. He recovered fairly quickly, as not too long after, Lex had dispatched him to kill the Lang family, and survived a baseball bat to the head, also being merely knocked out.
Appearances[]
Superman & Lois[]
Season 3[]
Season 4[]
- "The End & The Beginning"
- "A Perfectly Good Wedding" (mentioned)
- "When the Lights Come On"
- "A Regular Guy" (mentioned)
- "Sharp Dressed Man" (mentioned)
- "To Live and Die Again" (pictured)
Trivia[]
- Otis Grisham is based on the character Otis, who first appeared in the 1978 film Superman as the buffoonish henchman of Lex Luthor, famously portrayed by actor Ned Beatty. He was previously adapted in the Arrowverse as Otis Graves, who first appeared in Season 4 of Supergirl.
- Otis' last scene in "Injustice" is a reference to Forever Evil #2 where his comic book counterpart meets Subject B-0 and is killed by him on Lex's orders. Unlike that comic, Bizzaro bit off his ear.